Repost: Mazda RX-8 Notchback

One of my least-viewed chops of all time, lol, the Mazda RX-8 notchback. I'm not sure why this hasn't been more popular, I love it, but I think it could be the fact that the RX-8 just wasn't very popular. I shortened the wheelbase and took away those Saturn-like rear half doors. This would be a 2-seater with a parcel shelf behind the front seats for packages. The car could be lighter and tighter than the regular hatchback 4-seater and I think could have provided additional sales. Generally I like the profile of notchbacks more than fastbacks, but give me a moment and I'll find a hundred fastbacks I love!

Repost: 2012 Saab 9-5 Hybrid Coupe

I think it's such a shame that Saab was shut down. They had such a storied postwar history and were very popular in areas of the country like New England. They are still quite ubiquitous around here, but we have no new ones to look forward to anymore. This was my idea for a top-line 9-5 Hybrid coupe, and would have included a dual-action hatchback which could be raised like a trunk or with the window attached like a hatchback. I believe VW was the first with this type of trunk on one of its Skoda models. I think the newest Saab design language had a lot of "legs" and was really looking forward to the smaller 9-3 and perhaps a 9-1 model in the future.

Repost: 21st Century Chevy Bel Air

This was chopped several years ago and was my idea for a top-end Chevrolet rear wheel drive luxury 4-seat coupe. I created it from a Mercedes Benz CL coupe and I used the quad taillights Bel Airs were known for. I also gave it a flying buttress roofline, evocative of the mid-Sixties Chevelle coupes, and of course,it  was a long-standing Corvette styling cue, too. The rocker panel brushed aluminum trim has faux "vents" in front of the rear wheels, an homage to the great little details Harley Earl was known for.

Repost: 2010 Crown Victoria Concept

One of my sillier chops from the past, this Crown Victoria concept was chopped in 2008 I believe. I worked in lower resolution then, hence the pixelation. I based this large, rear wheel-drive 6-passenger Ford sedan on a photo of an S-Class Mercedes, one of the few contemporary sedans with the correct rwd proportions built-in. I polished the front doors in a nod to professional pursuit vehicles nationwide and also indented the hood and trunk to catch the light in a way that would mimic Ford's classic racing stripes. Uplevel "civilian" versions would have a blanked out C-pillar, a la the classic "Galaxy" roofline, but fleet cars would use that very 1990s Crown Vic "sixth" window. Lastly, I'll just say that this was chopped way before the current Taurus hit the streets and it picked up my chromed trunk bar with the Ford oval almost 100%. I, of course, had based mine on the late '60s Torinos which had sort of similar trim pieces. My front end treatment used modified Cadillac headlights for a more vertical appearance, a nod to the '65-'67 large Fords and their stacked vertical headlights.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone, a day to remember all that have served and sacrificed for our country, and personally, happy birthday to me today, lol. (And a happy birthday to Clay, a longtime reader and contributor to those early car forums where I began chopping photos and posting them.)

Repost: 2014 Mustang?

One of my most widely-read, downloaded and reposted around the Web is this 2014 Mustang I created from the Ford Evos concept car. I first posted this rendering in September of 2011. I mentioned at the time that I felt the wheelbase was a little too long aft of the door. I thought I might go back and do a second one tightening up that space, but haven't gotten around to it yet! Interestingly I find the new Corvette Stingray to be too long aft of its doors, too. Maybe it's my eyes!

Just last week I was asked for permission for a website to run this Mustang. Sometimes you have no idea what types of "life" your work will lead once you've published it on the web!

21st Century Torino GT Sportsroof?

This reborn Ford Torino GT Sportsroof was chopped a few years ago, but had been posted only over at my other blog. I'm reposting some of those earlier pieces that never made it over here until I can carve some time out to finish new chops. In addition to being swamped with book projects I recently had a 16GB thumbdrive erase itself, losing my "Chops Start" folder with perhaps half  dozen new cars in various stages. Such is the electronic world!

This modern throwback coupe was created from a 4-5 door Tesla sedan if I remember correctly. I placed some of the German Alps behind it. I was born in Stuttgart in the Black Forest and at the time my Dad had his pink-and-black '56 Fairlane Sunliner shipped over there. I grew up with stories of how his Thunderbird-Special 312 V8's exhaust echoed through the Alpine passes and tunnels as he drove.

I think a 21st century Torino could once again be positioned as a powerful rear-wheel drive larger brother to the Mustang. I'd envision a 6-8 inch stretch in the 'Stang's wheelbase for a larger rear seat with added/upgraded luxuries.

'Cuz I Love This Chop—Bentley Blue Train Coupe

 

Reposting this Bentley Blue Train coupe I chopped several years ago. This is one of my all-time favorite creations of mine. I love the proportions, the roofline, the wrapped rear window, the coloring, the wheels, lol. This chop, more than any other early cars of mine, showed me I could redesign an entire car in Photoshop, not just adjust the grille, or wheels, or trim. For the history behind the Blue Train appellation, click here.  Hopefully I'll be back to chopping new creations soon!

Bonus:

Also a repost, this is a "poster" I created years ago, to showcase the cars I had created up to that point. I could see this printed as placemats at a 24-hour truckstop, lol.

Front Page—NSX for Automotive News

Front Page! My commissioned rendering of Acura's upcoming NSX sportscar was featured on the front page of Detroit's Automotive News last week. Due to be shown at the Detroit International Auto Show in a couple of weeks, I worked with an editor at the newspaper to render this V6, hybrid, mid-engined sportscar from his recollection of a press briefing. It was a great experience. I first wrote about it all, here. I'm especially amused by the rainbow-colored advertisement below my illustration!

Closeup of the illustration and my bold faced photo credit!

• My work is also featured this week in the Autoextremist's Year End Review, a great honor, as always! Along with my work for Automobile magazine earlier this year, it's been a fun year, and the first year in which my car renderings have been seen in print.